Council: Purchase Of Land Premature

BOYNTON BEACH — Purchasing a portion of the mangrove preserve slated for downtown redevelopment is premature at this point, City Council members said Tuesday.

But before making a final decision on the purchase of the land, the council will meet with Community Redevelopment Agency members to discuss the proposal.

Discussions about the land began in May, when Community Redevelopment Agency Chairman Hank Thompson sent a letter to City Manager Peter Cheney, advising city officials to look into purchasing the land.

Owning the land would make it easier for the city to to construct one of the key features of the downtown redevelopment plan -- the cove, according to Thompson.

If the city owned a portion of the preserve and planned to use it in the public interest, state regulatory agencies may be more inclined to grant the permits needed to accomplish some of the work planned near the mangrove preserve, Thompson said in an interview Monday.

Mangroves are tropical plants that grow in swampy ground along the water`s edge. They are protected by state and federal law because they constitute the beginning of the elaborate marine food chain.

City officials must go through a detailed permit process with county, state and federal officials before disturbing any area where mangroves grow.

Because of the enviromental restrictions the mangroves place on the current property owners, the city would be able to purchase the land for one-quarter of its $1 million value, Thompson said.

But during the council meeting in City Hall, council members said the $250,000 sale would be no bargain until it was determined by engineers working on the project whether the land would be needed.

``I don`t know if we should spend the money before we know what`s going to happen,`` Councilman Ezell Hester said. ``I think this may be too early. I don`t think we know enough.``

The cove and a boardwalk to be built along the cove will be among the main drawing cards to the downtown area, according to the plan for downtown revitalization prepared by the Community Redevelopment Agency.

Ultimately, shops, office buildings and residential units are to be constructed in the area surrounding the cove.

Although Thompson wasn`t at the meeting, he did write a memo to council members backing up the letter he sent to Cheney. In his memo, Thompson addressed concerns Councilman Jim Warnke has expressed about the enviromentally sensitive area.

Warnke, who has opposed disturbing the mangrove preserve, asked the council to postpone making a decision until Community Redevelopment Agency members could be present for the discussion.